2002 Camaro 3.6 v6, Fuel pressure at 3psi after replacing the pump tho e fuel filter and FPR, my car died at a red light and after 4 hours I came back it started right back up and I drove it home. Parked it for about a month and now been trying to diagnose and get it back running. Started with the fuel filter, still died after giving it gas. So I replaced the fuel pump and it ran for 5min before dieing again, so I replaced the FPR and now I’ve got no fuel pressure building. The first time I put the FPR in I didn’t take out the old smaller O ring and it had 50-60 psi now after installing it again but just the one new O ring it came with I’m not getting any pressure, no fuel in vacuum line. At this point I need all the help I can get. Thanks

 

can you hear the fuel pump coming on?

 

Yes I hear fuel pump come on and if I cycle key enough times I can get pressures to reach 10- 17psi

 

What type of pump did you put in it? If it was a china pump I am not surprised at all. I put three in my 4th gen V6 till I got that working right. This can also be caused by pin hole in the lines that are in the tank or a loose clamp.

Mine was was a Airtec complete assembly.

First pump: way to loud. Even the guy at the parts store agreed that noise level was a real problem.
Second pump: Died 48 hours after installed. Only time I have to get my V6 project towed.
Third pump: Had loose clamps which I caught before I installed it. This would have caused a not start condition if I did not check it.

What happened to make you replace the pump? How clean was the tank? Did you clean the sock? Defective filters are possible but very rare. A partial plug line could cause the original pump to fail. If the restriction is before the filter then the pump could cause the restriction to get worse. This is a flow system with a return line so any restriction will cause a drop in pressure.

 

So thank you for that response! The pump I got is an autobest brand. I was thinking it could be the fuel filter having the clog. I didn’t clean the tank but when inspected I didn’t see anything of note inside the gas tank. I replaced the fuel filter again! at the point of the fuel filter I’m getting 42psi about.
She started and ran immediately but sputtering and stalling after some time. So I’m guessing I have to keep unclogging the fuel filter until the clog is gone I’m trying that tomorrow any suggestions for cleaning out a clog of this sort? You also said pin holes in my gas tank could cause loss in pressure how can I check for that? I made a trap door for the fuel pump not wanting to pay for or do the labor of uninstalling the gas tank.

 

If the tank is clean then I would just blow out the line between the pump and the filter with compressed air. As for testing the lines you would have to do that with compressed air line by line with the sending unit taken a part.

One thing that does not make a a lot of sense to me. The line from the tank to the filter is not very long and these canister type filters are huge, they are designed to last over 100,000 miles. It takes a lot of crap to fill one up. If the tank is clean-ish how could 2 canisters fill up so fast. I guess it is possible. I have seen rusty gas tanks go 2000 miles before needing a filter swap.

Before You do anything else!!!
Did you try to blow through the filter you just took off? If its hard to blow through then it was your problem. If you can not blow through it and assuming you do not have a filter splitting tool, a good set of tin snips can cut the old filter a part. You can use a slow moving saw to start the cut. This would let you see if what is plugging the filter, You may need to address that issue. If you have rubber, plastic, metal or rust would all indicate different issues. I cut all my filters a part to check to make sure there is nothing out of the ordinary, I say do this first because these pumps are very high performance, They use the gas flowing through them to cool them. If gas can not flow through them they will over heat. Even a short test of 30 seconds may not kill kill the pump but it may reduce the life of it.

Safety: dry the filter the best you can with compressed air or just let it sit for a day or two, but even then assume its will catch fire. Do this out side and know where you are going to throw the filter if there is a problem. Fire extinguisher, welding gloves and a face shield would be perfect. Leather work gloves and a set of googles and a bucket of water would be ok. (water is for you, not the filter!) I am not trying to scare you, the filter can not explode, it will just light like a big candle. I have never had one light up on me and I have hit them with chisels, hand saws and rushed with the snips. After doing that a while I started to use and Matco exhaust cutter with cutting disks. I have never heard someone say "I wish I did not waste all that time being Safe" but I have heard the opposite many times. With decent gloves the filter is not even that dangerous to you but what you do with the burning filter that can burn a shop down.

 

Sooo I can blow through my last filter. Not gonna lie I’m pretty much fed up trying to get this thing running so I’m taking it into the shop Monday. But I can get it running after it sits for 20-30 minutes it builds pressure to 40 psi even if it doesn’t start. I’m at a loss

 

did you dump the gas in the filter into a clear container, dump from the tank side to get an idea of what's in the filter. I shake the filter holding fingers over the ends before to loosen any stuff up. did you try to pump some gas out at the filter spot when you had it off to clear the line and get an idea if its pumping more crud. the filters in the injectors may be plugged now.